I LOVE Patriots' Day. Always have, and I (hope I) always will. It's one of those peculiar and particular holidays, invented in Massachusetts and celebrated in very few other places. I first wrote about my affection for it in 2008. And here's a good summation about why it's my kind of holiday. Last year, I was somewhat optimistic that by 2021, we'd be back to normal. But, no, we're now into our Second Annual 'Meh' Patriots' Day. May it be our last!
The Boston Marathon, which has ALWAYS been run on Patriots' Day - way back in the day when we actually observed the holiday on April 19th, rather than on the long-weekend-friendly third Monday in April - is (tentatively, as pretty much everything is still tentatively) scheduled for next October. It'll be run on the 11th, on what we're still calling Columbus Day. (At least I think we're still calling it Columbus Day. I hope that it gets renamed at some point. I'm all for calling it Immigrants' Day, but Indigenous Peoples' Day seems to be winning out, which is fine by me. Just get it done.)
Whenever it's held, the next Boston Marathon will be run without my friend Jake Kennedy, founder of Boston's iconic Christmas in the City organization. Jake was a 38-time Boston-er who died of ALS on October 13th.
April. October. Patriots' Day is just never gonna be the same without Jake. (Among other things, he hosted an after-party at his PT business where a lot of runners showed up, a lot of non-runners showed up (as in me), and we raised money for Christmas in the City.
I have been a Boston Marathon spectator plenty of times, mostly back in the pre-everything-is-a-big-deal era when you could stroll over to the Finish Line about two minutes before the finish and see who won. Then stroll out to the packed but not insane Eliot Lounge for a beer and where you were apt to bump into the winner in the bar. Those were the days...
Another thing that won't be happening as usual is the re-enactment of the Battle of Lexington, which is the reason we celebrate Patriots' Day to begin with. As it was last year, this year's battle will be virtual.
My preferred Patriots' Day thing to do is watch the Red Sox play. This is a morning game - start time 11:10 a.m. - "scheduled" (as if baseball game endings can be scheduled!) to end when the competitive runners are thumping through Kenmore Square, just down the street from Fenway Park. In truth, thanks to how big the Marathon has gotten - and thanks to the intense security that's sprung up since the Marathon Bombing in 2013 - it's a complete, rip-roaring pain in the butt to walk home from Fenway after the game. You have to walk about two miles out of year way to walk two miles...
Still, it's a fun game to be at and I usually try to get tickets.
Last year, I had tickets, but game called on account of pandemic.
This year, the Sox (Red) are playing the Sox (White), and there will be fans in the stands. But the limit is 12%, which means there'll only be around 4,500 folks rattling around "America's Most Beloved Ballpark." And I won't be one of them.
Instead of heading out to AMBBP this morning, I'll be working in the kitchen at St. Francis House. I will be wearing a blue and yellow jersey (not yellow and blue), and a Red Sox cap. Celebrate! (I'm celebrating my return to volunteering at SFH. Volunteers were furloughed last March. While some started making their way back last summer, the geezers like me are just finding our way back now. I've done a few shifts in the kitchen, and later this week will return to my old regular gig giving out toiletries in the Resource Center.)
Usually the swan boats are back in the Public Garden for Patriots' Day, but this year they're holding out until May.
So it's not all terrible, but it's still going to be a pretty 'meh' Patriots' Day.
But things ARE getting better.
Wait until next year!
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